A Christmas Eve Interlude
by MelGayPet
Summary: A Kish Christmas ficlet.


**A/N: **I am hopelessly behind on updating "Family," but I wanted to post _something _before 2014 was behind us. So here's a little Kish ficlet. (I wrote this quickly, so please forgive any mistakes.) A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a wonderful holiday season and New Year to everyone.!

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><p>Oliver Fish crept into his daughter's nursery, unnecessarily silent. Sierra Rose was wide awake. She caught sight of her daddy and, in a practiced move, seized the bars of her crib and pulled herself upright. Grinning in pride and delight, she held out her arms expectantly. Oliver grinned back.<p>

"Hey there, sweetheart. How's my girl doing?" At the sound of his voice, Sierra bounced up and down in excitement. With a quick glance behind him, he hefted her up. He grunted slightly, doing his best to ignore the pain shooting through his back. "C'mon, kiddo."

They had just walked into the living room when the apartment door opened and Kyle Lewis walked in, brushing snow off his shoulders. "It's really comin' down out there," he called out. "Looks like we're going to have a white Christmas after all – hey!" he broke off suddenly, halfway out of his coat. "What do you think you're doing?"

Oliver blinked at his boyfriend in confusion. In his arms, Sierra squealed happily at the sight of Kyle and waved her arms madly. "You're supposed to be taking it easy," Kyle said, managing to both smile at the baby and glower at Oliver.

Oh."I'm taking it easy," he protested. "Do you see me doing anything strenuous?" He half-hoped Kyle would make a crack about strenuous activities he'd like to see Oliver doing, even though that type of innuendo spoken in front of the baby still had a tendency to make him blush. But no such luck.

"Resting," Kyle went on, as if Oliver hadn't spoken at all. "And not _lifting things._" Now free of his coat, he crossed the room and reached for Sierra. "Oh, come on," Oliver said, rolling his eyes. "I think I can lift my own baby, she only weighs seventeen pounds." He took a step back, swinging her away from Kyle's outstretched hands. He hissed as his back twinged painfully in response. Sierra giggled, thinking her fathers were playing a game.

"See!"

"I just moved wrong – I'm fine."

"You're _not _fine, you're still in pain-"

"Kyle…"

"Give me her and lie down."

Oliver handed Sierra over, trying to keep his pain off his face. He didn't want to argue, not on Christmas Eve. He moved reluctantly - and gingerly - to the couch. Yes, his back was hurting, but he'd spent far too much of the last few days lying there. Horizontal, he stared at the ceiling, listening to Kyle move around the small apartment, murmuring to Sierra as she babbled back. Unconsciously, he felt himself relax.

"Here you go." He blinked as Kyle loomed over him, holding out a bottle of water and a pill bottle. Had he fallen asleep?

"Thanks," he said, accepting them. He grimaced as he sat up enough to swallow.

"I knew you hadn't taken them on time," Kyle said with a raised eyebrow.

"I wasn't going to take pain meds when I was alone with Sierra." Oliver said, annoyed to hear the note of defensiveness in his own voice.

"I was gone maybe half an hour." Kyle returned, but without heat. He smiled, but concern remained in his eyes.

Speaking to that, Oliver tried to joke. "You worry too much. Don't you always say that's my job?"

"Yeah, yeah. You start sleeping with a hero cop, see if you don't worry."

"Some hero," Oliver said sourly. "Slipped on ice and fell on my ass. If Officer Sato hadn't been there, the suspect would've gotten away." The entire humiliating situation still grated, two days later.

"But she was there," Kyle said, simmering impatience in his voice. "And you're the one who got hurt."

A sudden movement made them both look down. As they watched, Sierra Rose used the coffee table to pull herself to her feet. Her scowl of concentration transformed immediately to a look of glee when she noticed her dads' attention. With a wide grin, she let go and toddled a few unsteady steps over to them, where she pitched forward, grabbing a fistful each of Oliver's flannel pajama pants and Kyle's snow-soaked jeans to keep from falling over altogether.

Oliver stared, astonished. "Sierra! You walked!" He looked up at Kyle, saw his own stupefied delight mirrored on his boyfriend's face. He knelt down, glancing from the baby to Oliver.

"This is early, right?" Oliver said to Kyle amid their praise for Sierra. "She's only eight months old – "

"She's a genius," Kyle said, face alight. "Yeah, you're all kinds of precocious, aren't you, munchkin?"

Not even feeling his back, Oliver leaned forward and kissed him, softly, gently, with all the joy and wonder he felt. When he pulled back, Kyle's eyes were wide and a little teary. He smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Kyle Lewis."

"Merry Christmas, Oliver Fish."

"And Merry Christmas to you, Sierra Rose!" Kyle added, pulling the little girl up to squash between them.

Sierra Rose laughed, as bright and sparkly as the lights on the small tree across the room.


End file.
